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Astra Militarum Awards and Honours
Astra Militarum Awards and Honours are awarded for all manner of heroic deeds or worthy actions by the Astra Militarum. These awards are given for acts of heroism and bravery, and there are three broad types. There are Imperial Honours, which are found throughout the Imperial Guard; Campaign Honours, which are given out for meritorious action in a given Imperial Crusade or planetary action; and Regimental Awards, which are unique to each regiment and are often awarded for specific engagements. As might be imagined, there are a great many honours and medals of merit available to the Imperial Guardsman throughout the galaxy. Many are specific to particular worlds or campaigns, while others are Imperium-wide. Given that the galaxy of the late 41st Millennium is riven with war, and that the Astra Militarum is embroiled in a constant state of conflict, ribbons, medals and other honours are often awarded to recognise the conduct which might raise an individual trooper above his fellows so that he comes to be recognised, by his comrades and by his superiors, as a leader of soldiers. Having been hailed as an archetype for others to follow, the individual might be rewarded for his deeds with all manner of medals, citations, and awards, but in truth many, often the most worthy care the least for such things. Most true leaders act in the way they do out of duty to their comrades and faith in the Emperor, often uncaring or even resentful of the multitudinous layers in between. While the exemplar might know his regiment's commanding officer by name he is unlikely to have spoken to him before, until the mantle of leadership is conferred, formally or otherwise. Then the unwilling hero might find himself required to attend parades where he must carry the regimental banner at the head of rank upon rank of his fellow troopers. He might be expected to attend the officer's mess as a guest of honour, to dine upon delicacies the likes of which he has never tasted and to sip wines so rare he could never hope to purchase a single bottle. They are decorated with glittering medals and flowing ribbons, most of which they were unaware of before earning them and have no wish to wear in front of their comrades. In short, most such heroes are unwilling ones, their status often used to the advantage of the commanding officers as just another tool to manipulate the troops' morale. Only in those regiments drawn from cultures where matters of class and status are entirely irrelevant are these leaders allowed to continue their existence as before, and such regiments are often few and far between. Notable Astra Militarum Imperial Honours Imperial Honours are commendations that are recognised, in one form or another, throughout the Imperium of Man. There are many different commendation systems that vary by segmentum, sector, Crusade, campaign, regiment, and company, some with traditions dating back thousands of standard years. However, the honours presented below are some of the most commonly used and widely recognized throughout the Imperium: Regimental Awards and Honours There are countless medals pinned to the uniforms of Imperial Guardsmen across the galaxy, and the examples presented here do not even begin to scratch the surface. Many unique awards are created to recognise the engagements in which a specific regiment has fought. In the Cadian Shock Trooper regiments, individuals granted heroic status are notable by the medals they wear, for Cadia is a supremely militaristic culture and maintains decorations for countless deeds. By way of contrast, the Catachan Jungle Fighters both value and reward those who exhibit archetypical heroic qualities, but at the same time they rarely accept any official honours that might be bestowed upon them. Thus, a mighty and charismatic leader who has won many victories, slaughtered many foes, or rescued many of his comrades might decline every promotion offered to him, remaining with his unit where he himself believes he can best serve. The amount of commendations, accolades, and medals garnered by the Scintillan Fusiliers regiment is, while certainly impressive, not commensurate with the amount of actual combat the regiment has seen. Though the soldiers of the regiment are quite competent, their training extends only to what is laid down in the Uplifting Primer. Further, their training consists mostly of deep-underhive hunts targetting the wretched creatures in the depths of Scintilla's forgotten pits, and their experience has largely been in low-intensity conflicts where the regiment could bathe themselves in the greatest amount of glory for the least amount of risk. This has led many in the Spinward Front to look askance at the so-called achievements of the Scintillian Fusiliers 17th, Commander-General Pailus' pet regiment. The warriors of the Death Korps of Krieg are notorious for their lack of individual identity, and this carries forward the regard they show to those that in any other regiment would be regarded as born leaders of their fellow soldiers. It is left to the ranks to recognise and reward their own. Even if the officers refuse to recognise their deeds, the troopers themselves certainly do, honouring with stoic dignity those in their midst who have performed great service to the regiment and to the Emperor. Notable Cadian Medusa V Campaign Honours Below are examples of Regimental Awards that are awarded to the Cadian Shock Troops Regiments: Notable Spinward Front Regimental Honours Each front of the Imperial war effort has its own, unique command structure, its own battlefield conditions and foes to fight. To reflect this, each Strategic High Command has been authorized to award campaign and sector-specific awards for Imperial Guard troopers of particular skill, heroism, or stubborn tenacity. These medals and honours are a tradition of the Periphery Sub-sector of the Calixis Sector, and represent meritorious service against the main foes of the Spinward Front: the arrayed forces of the Severan Dominate, the Ork horde of WAAAGH! Grimtoof, the Dark Eldar Cabals operating in the area, those Chaos warbands that call the Spinward Front their home, and the Kroot mercenary Kindred active in the area. Additionally, there are informal awards, marks of reputation rather than formal commendation, given by regimental command. These honours are recognised by a given regimental commander to acknowledge a squad's skill and history fighting one of Mankind's many foes. Included below are those Regimental Honours unique to the Spinward Front: Campaign Honours The Imperial Guard is unimaginably vast, and many awards and citations are unique to a given region of space or a given Imperial Crusade or campaign. Distinguished Service Medals are gallantry medals awarded by Campaign Command for service to the Imperial Guard "above and beyond the call of duty." Considering how much Strategic Command often expects out of the average Guardsman, receipt of one of these commendations is a rare honour, indeed. These medals are considered very important, and their titles are long-winded. For example, the full title of the Cannonade Breachman's Medal would be, "For Distinguished Service, Against the Severan Rebellion, Cannonade Breachman's Medal." Distinguished Service Medals are usually very large and ostentatious, though there is considerable variance in this regard. Receipt of these medals does not go unnoticed by the common soldiery. Distinguished Service Medals are always awarded for specific feats of bravery and skill; each one is accompanied by a scar and a story. Their fellow Guardsmen will often ask the bearers to recount their tales of bygone battles, partly out of curiosity and a sense of camaraderie, but also in the hopes that they might pick up a few helpful pointers along the way. Notable Spinward Front Campaign Honours The following are a sampling of Imperial Guard Honours used in the campaigns and Crusades of the Spinward Front: Against the Severan Rebellion These commendations are newly minted, appearing only after the conflict with the Severan Dominate began in force. Campaign commanders award these honours to Guardsmen who have proved themselves lynchpins in the battle against the Severan Dominate. There are those within the Periphery Sub-sector High Command who believe that the fight against the Severan Dominate is the most crucial in the Sub-sector; that without the resources gained by bringing the Dominate back into Compliance with Imperial mandate, the rest of the battlefronts of the Periphery Sub-sector are doomed to failure. These commanders hold honourees of these medals in the highest esteem. These awards include the following: Against the Ork Menace These commendations are awarded for exemplary service against the green tide that threatens to engulf the Spinward Front. Awards given for service in fighting against WAAAGH! Grimtoof are seen as some of the Periphery Sub-sector's most prestigious, as many in Strategic Command consider the Ork menace the truest threat in the Spinward Front. These awards include the following: Against Xenos Designate Eldar Officially, there is no distinction in the commendations awarded for fighting any type of Eldar. Veterans might notice some differences between Dark Eldar and their Craftworld cousins if they have the misfortune of fighting both, but in the eyes of the Imperial Guard as a body, all Eldar are the same. These awards include the following: Against Xenos Designate Kroot These commendations are slightly rarer than the other types of Distinguished Service Medals common in the Spinward Front, as the Kroot are usually not considered as pressing a threat as the other enemies of the Imperium active in the Periphery Sub-sector. There are a few campaign commanders, however, who have, for whatever reason, taken a particular dislike to the Kroot. These commanders have created service medals for victory over Kroot forces, and a few other campaign commanders have followed suit. These awards include the following: Sources *''Codex: Imperial Guard'' (5th Edition), pg. 59 *''Codex: Imperial Guard'' (3rd Edition, 2nd Codex), pg. 14 *''Imperial Munitorum Manual'' by Graham McNeill, pp. 80-84 *''Tactica Imperialis - A History of the Later Imperial Crusades'' (4th Edition) by Dan Abnett & Andy Hoare, pg. 28 *''Only War: Core Rulebook'' (RPG), pp. 294-295 *''Only War: Enemies of the Imperium'' (RPG), "Medals and Honours of the Front," pp. 139-143 *''Only War: Hammer of the Emperor'' (RPG), pp. 26, 64-65 *''The Horus Heresy - Book Four: Conquest'' by Alan Bligh, pg. 95 *''Cadian Blood'' (Novel) by Aaron Dembski-Bowden *''Rogue Star'' (Novel) by Andy Hoare, pg. 13 *''Dawn of War II - Retribution'' (PC Game), The Last Stand - Duelist Honors (Wargear Selection Screen) es:Medallas y condecoraciones del Imperio Category:A Category:Imperial Guard Category:Imperial Guard Equipment Category:Imperium Category:Calixis Sector